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Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Bio
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (Portuguese pronunciation:[ɐ̃ˈtoniu ʁoˈdɾiɡu noˈɡejɾɐ] born June 2, 1976) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist known for his technical mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. He is the twin brother of Antônio Rogério Nogueira.
He rose to prominence in the Japanese Pride Fighting Championships promotion, where he was the first Pride Heavyweight Champion from November 2001 to March 2003, as well as a Pride FC heavyweight grand prix finalist. He is one of only three men to have held Championship titles in both Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the others being Mauricio Rua and Mark Coleman). He is currently ranked as the #7 heavyweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.
Early life
Born in the town of Vitória da Conquista, Brazil, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira started training in judo at the age of 4, boxing at 14 and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when he was 18. At the age of 10, he was accidentally run over by a truck and fell into a coma for four days. During this time he lost a rib and part of his liver and had to be hospitalized for eleven months. As a result of the accident he has a large scar, including a noticeable indentation, on his lower back.
A few years after his MMA debut he started to train at the Brazilian Top Team. In June 2007 Nogueira officially left Brazilian Top Team prior to his UFC debut and is currently associated with Black House.
MMA career
Pride FC
Nogueira's victories in Pride include wins over Dan Henderson (who gave Nogueira his first loss by split decision, however Nogueira would later avenge the loss in PRIDE when he submitted Henderson with an arm-bar in their re-match), the UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, former UFC heavyweight champions Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett, the legendary Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, and Bob Sapp.
Following the end of Akira Maeda's Rings federation, Nogueira was signed by Pride. He debuted in July 2001 at Pride 15, quickly submitting Gary Goodridge by triangle choke. In Pride 16, he submitted UFC and Pride Grand Prix champion Mark Coleman by triangle armbar. He was crowned as the inaugural Pride World Heavyweight Champion after defeating Heath Herring by decision.
He next defeated Enson Inoue, and then fought for Antonio Inoki's UFO organization, scoring his first MMA KO victory against Sanae Kikuta.
He then represented Pride at a co-promotion with K-1, Pride Shockwave, against the super heavyweight and former American footballer Bob Sapp. He eventually won the fight.
Dutch kickboxer Semmy Schilt was his next opponent. He scored another victory by triangle choke.
Nogueira's first Pride title defense was against Russian Sambo champion Fedor Emelianenko at Pride 25 where he suffered his second career loss, a judges' decision after Emelianenko dominated the fight with characteristic ground-and-pound through the guard.
Afterwards, he won a decision against former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez. Despite Rodriguez managed to score takedowns and maintain top position, Pride's fight-scoring is determined primarily by "effort to finish the fight by KO or submission", and Nogueira's multiple near-submission attempts won him the decision victory.
In November 2003, with heavyweight champion Emelianenko unable to fight due to injuries, Pride elected to crown an interim champion, so top contenders Nogueira and Mirko Filipović were matched up. Filipović managed to dominate the first round with his superior striking and a left high kick, but in the second round, Nogueira managed to secure a takedown and roll into an armbar to submit Filipović.
On April 25, 2004 at Pride Total Elimination 2004, the first round of the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix, he faced the unbeaten professional wrestler and former judoka Hirotaka Yokoi, who he submitted with the debut of his anaconda choke. He then repeated the move against Heath Herring in the next round to advance to the semi finals where he defeated Sergei Kharitonov to again face Fedor Emelianenko in the finals. The fight was markedly different from their first, with Nogueira able to avoid the damage he suffered from ground-and-pound in their first meeting, but was stopped when Emelianenko suffered a cut after an accidental headbut and could not continue, resulting in a no contest. Another rematch was required to determine the tournament champion, and was scheduled for Pride Shockwave 2004 on 31 December 2004. Nogueira suffered another unanimous decision loss to Emelianenko.
At Pride Critical Countdown 2005 he defeated Polish Olympic judoka Pawel Nastula by strikes and following this, at Pride 31 he beat professional wrestler and fighter Kiyoshi Tamura by armbar for the second time.
He then entered the 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix, progressing to the semi final by defeating fellow Brazilians Zuluzinho and Fabricio Werdum. In the semi final, he faced the American catch wrestler Josh Barnett and lost to a split decision, as both had landed damaging blows and submission attempts without managing to secure a victory. Barnett went on to face Mirko Filipović in the finals, submitting to punches and kicks to the face.
Nogueira avenged the loss to Barnett with a unanimous decision win in their rematch at Pride Shockwave 2006.
In an interview with Sherdog.com, Nogueira has stated that his best moments of his career were against Bob Sapp and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, both matches he won under Pride.
UFC
At UFC Fight Night 9 which took place on April 5, 2007 Nogueira was in attendance and was sitting cage side with UFC president Dana White. It was subsequently announced at UFC 69, by White, that Nogueira had joined the UFC, promoted initially as simply "Minotauro" Nogueira, much like the UFC's promotion of Mirko Filipović as Mirko "Cro Cop" and Quinton Jackson as "Rampage" Jackson.
His debut in the Octagon was a third fight with Heath Herring at UFC 73, promoted under various combinations of his name and nickname, but was officially introduced to the audience under his full name and nickname. Nogueira once again defeated Herring, via unanimous decision. During the first round Herring landed a head kick that sent Nogueira to the canvas, in which unofficial judge Eddie Bravo thought the fight could have been stopped. Herring let Nogueira get back to his feet, and Nogueira was then able to recover and come back with a dominant decision victory.
It was announced during the UFC 79 broadcast and subsequent press conference that Nogueira would be fighting former long time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia at UFC 81 for the interim heavyweight championship. Nogueira was nicknamed "The Bull" because of his outstanding conditioning and iron chin.
At UFC 81 Nogueira defeated Tim Sylvia in the third round with a guillotine choke to become the interim heavyweight champion. During the fight Sylvia knocked Nogueira down with punches. After pulling Sylvia into his half guard in the third round, Nogueira quickly secured a sweep and attempted an armbar which he missed but immediately transitioned into a guillotine choke as Sylvia tried to regain his feet thus mounting an amazing "come from behind" victory. He is the first fighter to hold championships in both the UFC and Pride.
Nogueira's entrance music for UFC matches is The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter".
Nogueira and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir were the coaches for the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter, which premiered on September 17, 2008 on Spike TV.
Both winners of The Ultimate Fighter Season 8, Light heavyweight Ryan Bader and Lightweight Efrain Escudero, were members of Team Nogueira.
He was also featured in the 2010 movie "The Expendables" as a Bolivian soldier.
After the season concluded, coaches Nogueira and Mir met at UFC 92 for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Frank Mir won a very one sided fight in the second round via TKO due to punches, showing much improved striking by knocking Nogueira down twice in the first round, Herb Dean stopped the match at 1:54 of the second round. The loss marked the first time Nogueira had been stopped in his career.
Two days after the fight Dana White revealed in an interview that “Nogueira had just gotten over a Staph infection”. Nogueira himself verified this fact several months later in his own interview, stating that he had a Staph infection “20 days before the fight, [requiring] 5 days in the hospital.” When asked if this infection affected his fight, Nogueira answered: “For sure.” In addition to this significant illness, his knee was injured during training for which he had surgery in February 2009. Despite these legitimate handicaps, Nogueira offered strong praise for Frank Mir’s performance, with particular credit given to Mir’s ability to maintain “very good distance.”
The UFC next wanted to schedule Nogueira to face UFC Hall of Famer and Former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 97, but Couture had to turn down the fight due to elbow surgery in January 2009. Couture later agreed to fight Nogueira at UFC 102 in Portland, Oregon. Nogueira defeated Couture via unanimous decision. Nogueira showed much improved sharpness on his feet, and displayed his excellent chin by walking through many of Couture's strikes while still throwing punches, eventually gaining the better of the exchanges as he scored two knockdowns of Couture in the fight. Although taken down twice, Nogueira swept from guard on both occasions (after some time on his back) to gain the full mount over Couture. On the floor, Nogueira threatened with two submissions, first with a D'Arce choke and later with an arm triangle.
Nogueira was expected to face undefeated prospect Cain Velasquez on January 2, 2010 at UFC 108, but again Nogueira caught another severe staph infection cancelling the bout that was supposed to reveal the #1 contender for the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Brock Lesnar. The bout instead took place on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia. During the bout Minotauro was out-boxed as Cain landed a uppercut-right hook combo that dropped Antonio early in the first round. Velasquez followed up with five clean shots on the ground, prompting referee Herb Dean to stop the contest, in which Velasquez earned a KO victory. At the time, Nogueira had been knocked out in two of his last three fights.
Nogueira was to face Frank Mir on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119 in a rematch from the Championship bout at UFC 92. Nogueira pulled out of this fight in order to undergo needed surgery on both of his knees and was replaced by Mirko Filipović. He stated on May 15, 2011 that he will fight at the UFC's return to Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.
On August 23, 2011, Minotauro established a partnership with Brazilian football team Internacional to represent the club's brand in UFC. In an interview for SporTV, Minotauro said: "I'll do my best to represent Internacional in the best possible way. Now I am 100% Internacional."
Nogueira defeated The Ultimate Fighter alumni Brendan Schaub by knockout due to punches in the first round on August 27, 2011 at UFC 134 in his home-city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was his first fight in over 16 months (and was billed as his "return fight") and earned him his first Knockout of the Night bonus. Nogueira celebrated his victory by sitting on top of the octagon fence and displaying a Brazilian national flag with Sport Club Internacional's emblem added to the center of the flag.
Nogueira faced Frank Mir in a rematch on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140. After close early exchanges and a lot of work against the cage the two separated and Nogueira rocked Mir with a hard overhand right, jab combo. After Mir fell to the ground Nogueira continued with ground and pound before attempting a guillotine choke. Mir was able to get out of this and during the scramble ended in side control, almost instantly locking up a kimura. Both fighters rolled and scrambled multiple times, with Mir eventually gaining the dominant position. Mir tightened the kimura even further, eventually dislocating and breaking Nogueira's arm at 3:38 of round 1. Nogueira tapped out to the kimura.
Personal life
Nogueira has one daughter.
Championships and achievements
Submission grappling
- ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships
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- 2000 ADCC – 99kg+: Quarter finals
- CBJJ World Championships
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- 1999 Black Belt Absoluto: 3rd Place
- 1997 Purple Belt Pesadissimo: 2nd place
- CBJJ Pan-American Championships
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- 1999 Brown Belt Pesadissimo: 1st Place
- 1999 Brown Belt Absoluto: 1st place
- CBJJ Brazilian Championships
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- 1998 Brown Belt Pesadissimo: 1st Place
- 1997 Purple Belt Pesadissimo: 3rd Place
- 1996 Blue Belt Absoluto: 1st Place
Mixed martial arts
- Fighting Network RINGS
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- RINGS King of Kings 2000 Tournament Winner
- PRIDE Fighting Championships
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- Pride Heavyweight Championship (One time, first)
- Interim Pride Heavyweight Championship (One time)
- 2004 PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix Runner-Up
- 2006 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
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- Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time)
- Fight of the Night (Two times)
- Knockout of the Night (One time)
- World Extreme Fighting
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- WEF Heavyweight Superfight Champion (One Time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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- 2002 Fighter of the Year
- Black Belt Magazine
- 2002 NHB Fighter of the Year
- Inside Fights
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- 2009 Fight of the Year – vs. Randy Couture on August 29
Mixed martial arts record
See also
- List of current UFC fighters
External links
- Official website
- Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on Twitter
- Official UFC Profile
- Professional MMA record for Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira from Sherdog
- Official West Palm Beach School Website
- Antonio Nogueira Instructionals
MMA Shirts
